kscans

Chapter 1 - The Small-Fry Bat Meets a Feast

On a moonlit night, bathed in the light of a moon so large it seemed to fill the sky, a high-pitched kii kii echoed through the air. That’s right—it was my cry.

I’m just a humble Vampire Bat. And while I may be a monster, my rank is, by my own and everyone else’s admission, the absolute lowest of the low. A small-fry. I’m so weak that even a large, non-monster carnivore could probably make a meal of me.

My job is to repel any humans who enter the forest and report back if I find any strong ones. Those are the orders I was given by my Master. And speaking of my Master, you can probably guess from the fact that he commands a Vampire Bat like me—yep, he’s a Vampire. Vampires and bats, right? It’s a classic pairing. The kind of vampire who dons a black tailcoat and cape to sip the blood of beautiful maidens. I know there are all sorts of vampires these days with different attributes and variations, but my Master is a pretty standard one. Still, according to the Senior Bats, he’s an incredibly powerful vampire. What’s that? You’re wondering why a simple vampire bat is so knowledgeable about vampire tropes?

That’s because I used to be a human living on Earth. Yes, I died and was reincarnated as a monster in another world.

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My life in my previous world was miserable. I was betrayed by so many people, and even when I was caught up in circumstances beyond my control, like the death of my family, no one around me offered a helping hand. You could just say I had bad luck, but the people I met were truly that awful. The people who caused my misery, the people who trampled on me when I fell on hard times as if it were a godsend, the people who snatched away the support I should have received. After being shown the absolute worst of human malice, I died. I don’t even remember how.

And as a result, I was reincarnated as a weak monster in another world. But honestly, I feel much more at ease over here. Monsters don’t scheme against and crush their own kind like humans do. Sure, there’s a pecking order based on survival of the fittest and squabbles over food, but there isn't any of that clinging, insidious malice of the human world. They don’t spread ill will just to satisfy their own spite. This is truly the world of beasts. As long as I do my job, my Master is fair, and I can eat by preying on weak animals or injured humans. My heart is truly lighter than when I was human.

"Hm? What’s this scent?"

I noticed the smell of blood. A bat’s body may have poor eyesight, but its sense of smell is keen. More than anything, the scent of blood wafting toward me was unbelievably delicious. There was no way I could miss it.

"The scent of a feast! I have to go now!"

With a smell this good, the other senior bats are sure to pick it up soon!

I hurriedly descended toward the source of the scent. There, I found a single human.

"Ugh, uuh…"

He was covered in wounds, bleeding from all over his body. Despite being in the forest at night—a forest that was practically a vampire’s private domain—he wasn't wearing any armor. Instead, he was clutching a single, faintly glowing blue sword as if it were his lifeline.

His breathing was shallow, and I could tell he was so weak that he would die if left alone. Yes, this is my chance! I could never win against an armed human, but a dying one is unlikely to fight back! And someone this big is a feast that my tiny body could never finish, even with all the blood he’s lost! If the senior bats get here, they’ll definitely steal it. I have to drink as much as I can right now!

"Well then, time to dig in!"

I sank my fangs into the man’s neck with gusto.

"Guh!? Wha—a Vampire… Bat…?!"

The man was surprised and tried to pull me off. But strangely, his arm fell back to the ground before it could reach me. Huh? Did he die already?

"Hah, whatever. Do as you please."

It seems he just gave up.

"It’s far better to be eaten by you than to be killed by them. You can have all my blood."

Hm, sounds like there’s some complicated backstory here. But that has nothing to do with me! I’m just a Vampire Bat, after all! I began to chuu chuu drink the man's blood. It was more delicious than anything I’d ever tasted, and I lost myself in sucking it down.

"Delicious! So delicious! I’ve never had blood this good before!"

The satisfaction was overwhelming, like eating a massive steak! I could feel the nutrients spreading through my entire body. I think I can even taste something other than blood, but hey, I’ll just think of it as seasoning.

"Delicious, delicious!"

I continued to drink, completely absorbed.

"Ah, I’m losing all feeling. So this is… how I die…"

The man was muttering something, but sorry, I’m a little busy drinking blood right now!

"I’m disappearing, fading away. Ah, fine. I’ll give it all to you. Everything. All of me, everything I have, I’ll give it to you… So in return. You will… them…"

"Puhaa!"

Lost in my feeding frenzy, my fangs finally detached from the man’s neck once my stomach was full.

"That was delicious! Thanks for the meal!"

I offered my thanks to the man, only to see the shriveled, dried-up husk of a human before me.

"Whoa, he’s turned into a Mummy?!"

Huh? No way, did I drink that much blood?! No, no, no, that can’t be right. My body is too small to drink that much! I thought maybe the other senior bats had come and joined in, but there wasn't another Vampire Bat in sight.

"Did I really drink it all by myself?"

As I stood there, shocked by my own unexpected gluttony, I suddenly felt my body grow hot.

"Wh-what is this?!"

I felt something rampaging inside me.

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

It continued to rage within my body, trying to burst out.

"N-no way, did some kind of freaky creature parasitize me, like in that movie?!"

This is bad, bad, bad! I just had a delicious, full meal, and now I’m going to die?! Something thrashed even more violently inside me, and I couldn't even stand.

"N-no. No. Noooooo!"

And then something burst out from within me.

Ah, I died again. But this time it was after a huge feast, so maybe it’s a little better than my last life?

"…"

And so, my second life came to an end.

"Hohhoo."

"Jijijijijiji."

Gasa gasa…
Saa…

I could hear an owl hooting and insects chirping. The rustle of grass as some beast moved, the sound of wind passing through the trees. Most of all, the hardness of the ground.

"Wait, I’m not dead yet?!"

Wondering when I would finally die, I shot up with a start. As I did, something white cascaded over my hand with a zaa sound.

"What’s this… Thread? No. Hair?"

It was incredibly long hair. But that’s strange. The hair of the man I drank from was bright red. And it was short. It definitely wasn't white hair long enough to touch the ground. Could it be another person who was chasing him?! I hurriedly looked up, but all I could see was the large moon and the stars glittering around it.

"Huh? No one’s here."

I looked around, but there were no other humans. Nothing else, either.

"That’s weird."

As I tilted my head, I felt a silky sensation brush against my body.

"Huh?"

I looked down and saw it was that same white hair. I followed the strands to find their source. My hand, tracing the hair, touched my own body.

"Oh, huh?"

Why is it attached to me? I was confused. I was just a Vampire Bat, right? I didn’t have long, white hair like this. In fact, if I had hair this long, I wouldn’t be a Vampire Bat anymore, I’d be some other creature entirely! I patted my body all over, trying to figure out what had happened to me.

A face, a normal face! A nose, a mouth, ears… that are a little pointy!

"My body is… my chest is smaller than my previous life, no, more modest. My arms are really pale? My legs—whoa, my thighs are so slender! And! My waist! My waist is so thin! So incredibly thin!"

My waist had become exceptionally narrow. About the same as my previ—ahem, my previous self! My legs are slender, too. My whole body was slim, and my skin was incredibly white. My hair was long, fluffy, and white. Does this mean my face has become super cute, too? I really hope so.

"Wait, huh? I was a Vampire Bat, wasn't I? Why do I have a human body?!"

It was only then that I realized I had returned to a human form.

"What is happening to me?!"